Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
LUKYAN VOLKOV
“Do you want me to hit you in the face with a chicken drumstick again? Coz I fucking will. Try me, Butcher.”
My head rolled along my shoulders until I caught sight of my father and Autumn sitting on the other side of the plane. Music blasted in my ears from my AirPods. Even so, somehow, against all fucking odds, I could still hear every single word coming from them.
The way they were arguing, I had no doubt people back on land could hear them.
The flight time to Russia was estimated to take between twelve to fourteen hours. We’d only been in the air for three, but it felt like it’d been a goddamn week with Mr. and Mrs. Bickerson over there.
Seriously. They needed to get a new form of foreplay. Otherwise, I was going to shoot myself in the head just for the peace and quiet.
“Go ahead, try it,” Father growled. “This won’t be like last time, devil woman. I’m not cuffed or tied down.”
Autumn smirked, fire dancing in her eyes. “You wanna be?”
I chose that moment to cough. Loudly. Autumn’s gaze moved to me, and a tinge of red stained her cheeks. She cleared her throat awkwardly.
“Sorry, Lukyan.”
Father smiled, leaned forward, and flicked her nose playfully. “Behave.” He gave her a light kiss on the side of her lips before getting up and coming over to join me.
I looked out the window as he took the seat opposite me. Clouds floated by, the light of the sun that beautiful mix between orange and red.
“How are you going?”
I took out my AirPods, since the fuckers weren’t working anyway. “Fine,” I replied instantly, the lie falling from my tongue so easily. I’d gotten disappointingly good at concealing my true feelings from my own family.
“You don’t seem like yourself. Does this have anything to do with why you didn’t want to say goodbye to your brother?”
Sometimes, it really annoyed me how observant my father could be.
The final goodbye had gone pretty much exactly how I expected.
Tatiana cried—hormones. Nikolai gave me a one-armed hug and told me to be careful.
Illayana tried to be tough, but I could see the unshed tears in her eyes.
Arturo said nothing, but nodded slightly, which I was interpreting as, You’re the man, Lukyan.
I wish I could be more like you, Lukyan.
Drea talked a mile a minute, trying to give me some last-minute pointers on how to hurt someone with just a few touches here or there.
And Aleksandr…Well…he tried to say goodbye, but I was firmly in my petty era, and honestly, didn’t feel like talking to him after what had happened earlier that morning.
I won’t lie. The hurt that flashed in his eyes when I turned away from him and boarded the plane without saying a single word almost killed me.
I was mad at him for the shit he’d pulled and the constant lack of faith he had in me. But no matter how angry I was, I still loved him, and hated being the cause of that look on his face.
Father was staring at me, waiting for an answer.
“I wanna go over it again,” I said instead, ignoring what he’d asked altogether.
His lips pursed slightly in what I guessed was mild irritation. I could tell he didn’t want to drop the subject. The mission took precedence, though, because of the danger it posed.
He rolled his shoulder, stretching it out.
It was no longer in a sling, even though I knew it probably should have been.
There was no way he was going to arrive in Russia and see Sergei with it on, though.
He wouldn’t want him to think he was hurt or weak.
Easy pickings. He needed to appear strong. Unfathomable.
“The moment we land, you must be hypervigilant. Sergei will send a car to collect us. We will not get in it. I have organized our own transport that will pick us up from the airstrip and take us to the estate.”
“How do you know he will send a car?”
“Sergei tries to gain control over everything, no matter the situation. Something you and I view as small and insignificant, like a simple car ride from the airport, Sergei views as another attempt to exert his control over us. Now, your behavior plays a crucial part in making sure our plan is successful.”
“My behavior?” I frowned. He’d never mentioned anything about my behavior before. “Let me guess,” I blew out with a sigh. “You want me to tone it down, right? No stupid jokes. No sexual innuendos. No snarky comments.” Basically, be a big, boring dud.
Father smirked. “Actually, the complete opposite.”
My brows rose in slight surprise.
“I want more. More, Lukyan. Be your one hundred percent, crazy, carefree self, moy syn. Chem bezumneye, tem luchshe.” My son. The crazier, the better, in fact.
I chuckled, leaning back in my seat. “You’re gonna regret saying that to me.” He had no idea how crazy I could actually get.
No one was aware, but the Lukyan they knew was the mild, tamer version of me. A lot of the time, I had to hold myself back because I feared I was too much for them.
“In order for this to work, you need to play it up, and I’ll need to reprimand you and try to put you in your place.
It has to look like you’re not a threat.
That you’re just treating this entire thing like it is a fun vacation.
We all have our parts to play. I want to tell you now that I do not mean anything I will say to you in Sergei’s presence.
That, for this ruse to be believed, it has to look as though I am exasperated by your antics. ”
“Makes sense.” I nodded.
“Once we get to the estate, he will separate us. Do not fight it. Go along with it,” Father continued, face calm.
Focused. In the fucking zone. “It will be his attempt to get you alone to manipulate you. Let him think it’s working.
When we land, it will be late. 9–10 p.m. From what I know, the wedding is the following day—”
“So soon?”
“You, Autumn, and I are invariables. Think of Sergei like a grandmaster chess player. He prepares for every possible scenario, thinking five, ten, fifteen steps ahead. We’re unpredictable.
He doesn’t know what we will do, but he’ll try his best to foresee our actions and plan accordingly.
The best chance he has at making sure this wedding goes through without any complications is to have you at that altar as soon as possible.
If he could, he’d have you there the second you stepped off the plane. ”
I was well aware of the fact that the deal my grandfather had with the Tarasovs was important. But the more Father spoke, the more I really started to understand how desperate Sergei was to have everything go right.
It made that devil on my shoulder whisper a sinister plan to fuck it all up just for the sake of it.
I wasn’t going to listen. That bastard had gotten me into enough trouble to last me ten lifetimes.
Still, the idea was…interesting. Entertaining.
A stewardess came and stopped next to us. “Can I get you anything to drink?”
Father shook his head.
I leaned forward, staring intently at her chest that also happened to be where her name tag was. “Tahliaaaa,” I murmured, rolling the name off my tongue. “That’s a beautiful name.”
She giggled.
The plane suddenly veered to the side. Tahlia shrieked and lost her footing, falling back into one of the seats behind her. My heart leaped in my chest, and I grabbed onto my seat at the same time Father did, holding on for dear life.
The plane leveled out not even a second later. “Apologies, folks, we seemed to have just experienced a little bit of turbulence,” a female voice cut through the air.
“Jesus.” I chuckled, clutching my chest with one hand. “I thought this was gonna turn into a Yellowjackets situation.”
Autumn barked out a laugh. “Love that show.”
“D-drink?” Tahlia asked, her voice shaking as she got back onto her feet. The turbulence must have freaked her out.
I waved her away politely, the look on my father’s face drawing all of my attention. He looked tired. Exhausted not only physically, but also mentally. “You need to get some rest. All this shit with Grandfather…I’m guessing you’ve barely slept a wink.”
“You couldn’t be more right.” He got to his feet, laying a hand on my shoulder. “You get some rest, too. Trust me when I say, you’re going to need it for what’s to come next.”
He walked back and offered his hand to Autumn. She looked at him, shoved some of the food sitting in front of her into her mouth until it was overflowing, and then placed her hand in his, letting him help her up. They disappeared into the cabin at the back.
My head thumped back onto the headrest, and I closed my eyes, hoping to get some rest. Although my body began to relax, my mind did not. Too many thoughts were plaguing me. There was a ball of pressure sitting firmly on my chest, and I almost felt like it was stealing my ability to breathe.
There was so much riding on the mission. So much riding on me, and while I welcomed the chance to finally show my family exactly what I was capable of, I feared what would happen if I failed. What if Aleksandr is right—
No. Don’t think that way. You won’t fail. You’re going to kill that old bastard for all the pain and suffering he’s caused your loved ones, and everyone will bow at your feet for your masterfulness.
Damn fucking straight.
A rush of determination ran through me. I can do this. I can fucking do this.
The plane landed in Moscow several hours later. Father had been right. The moment the doors opened, there they were, waiting on the tarmac for us.
One car, black, sleek, with a single man holding a place card with the name Volkov on it.
The other a big, imposing SUV, with two hulking, tattooed figures standing in front of it with their hands clasped behind their backs.
I had a feeling I knew which one belonged to Sally Sergei—
“Oh, fuck me, it’s cold!” Autumn screeched behind me, her hands rubbing up and down her arms.